


Silver Veins

by Adi (Littlelionman15)



Series: Thunder [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Agents of SHIELD Pre-Season 5 Space Speculation, Agents of SHIELD: Season 4A Mini-Hiatus Fics, F/M, M/M, Post-Avengers (2012), Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-02 23:36:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14556048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlelionman15/pseuds/Adi
Summary: The penultimate chapter of my current series! Fox (original character, son of Tony Stark, an Inhuman) struggles with the new reality he found himself in after hearing about news about his condition; he finds shelter in Steve's comforting words. Lots of crying at the end.





	Silver Veins

**Author's Note:**

> I'll make it quick here - I'm dedicating this chapter to my wonderful friend on Instagram, @marvellousmartian! Love ya, M. This one's for you.

The pain had been driving him crazy. He didn't want to admit it to anyone earlier – but he felt it all the time. It would never go away, not even when he used the techniques Nat taught him: after all, she was an expert in this area, and her techniques should work, right?  
 But not even that helped. It was as if he knew something was wrong, despite the scans and the damage that had been detected and was already healing; no, this was different. It was after midnight when he woke up again. Thunder and lightning were raging outside the window of his room. The pain had woke him up again. It was louder this time – the myriad of shivers climbing up his spine had sent shivers through his whole body, starting at the incisions made on his back, all the way to the tips of his lips. Like a venom spreading through his veins, the burning acid had began eating him up from the inside.   
„That makes absolutely no sense.“ Jemma concluded after he had told her. „Your scans don't show anything new – anything that would cause such symptoms to occur. It began in your back, you say?“  
Fox nodded. He couldn't communicate – per his persistent request, Jemma filled him up with painkillers to numb the pain, and hopefully, enable him to sleep more than twenty three minutes like he did ever since he was admitted to the medical wing. Jemma ran her fingers through her chocolate colored hair, tucking the few rebellious strands of it behind her ears. She was beautiful – there was no make-up on her face; just the pair of brilliant, sharp eyes, the proud nose and endearing, rosy lips. „Wait.“ she stopped herself from thinking out loud, „I need to see your chart.“ He didn't see where she ran off to, though at this point, he could hardly tell apart reality from dreams and sedative-induced hallucinations. When he opened his eyes the next time, Fox found himself in another room. It was bright and the light blinded him at first, but after a few moments, his eyes had adjusted to the brightness, and he began to recognize shapes. The white orchids next to the dark, wooden night table; the smell of freshly roasted coffee, together with the scent of chocolate and slightly burnt pastry. Then he saw the painting of the Seattle skyline in twilight, with the familiar signature in the right corner of the picture: it belonged to Steve.   
„Still looking at that old thing?“ the familiar voice asked, and Fox immediately turned to the direction it came from. Once he turned around, he had found himself almost face to face with the man himself.   
_Steve_ , he whispered gently. His heartbeat started racing and his breathing got heavy.   
He spread his arms out and ran towards the tall and muscular figure, and the man had almost no time to put the platter with slightly burnt pastry and two mugs of coffee on the nearest table. The edges of his lips lifted into a warm smile, and the corners of Fox's eyes filled out with tears. „You're here.“ Fox gasped with relief. _Finally_. He hadn't seen him in over two years – until he rescued him from the Hydra facility in Ireland, but then he had only seen a blurry outline of his face. Fox tightened his grip, feeling Steve's warmth and the scent of his cologne. He wasn't letting go of him, not again. „I'm not.“ the former Captain America replied softly.   
„We're in your sub-consciousness, kid.“  
Fox's eyes sprung wide open at the sound of that. How was that possible? It feels so real! His guts twisted at the short moment of clarity that followed. That explains it – how he got here, into his old room at the Avengers Tower, and how he is hugging his Steve, even though he is God knows where right now. But why was it so real? How could he feel the scent of his cologne, or run into him like that?  
It took him a minute to recalibrate. „Right.“ he replied, wanting to convince Steve that he understood the five words he just heard.   
„You're here because I wanted you to be?“ he asked once they sat at the edge of the bed. Steve smiled. „Yes, but I think you already knew the answer to that.“  
Fox forced the edges of his lips into a smile. It felt nice – being in the same room with him once again. It was the man he looked up to; the only father figure he ever had. The man who taught him how to fight in hand to hand combat; the man who taught him how to dance. Fox couldn't explain it to himself, but for some reason, he felt safe and calm for the first time in a long while.   
„I remember this day.“ he said to Steve, who let Fox lean his head on his shoulder. „You brought me coffee and the pastry that you made by yourself because I was a mess. It was after the fight in Seattle, when Skybreaker took control over my body.   
I almost killed you that day, Cap.“  
„But being the brave little man you are – “ Steve reminded him, and Fox smiled.  
 „I redirected the energy into my own body, causing a lot of damage.“ he finished the sentence.  
„Your heart stopped because of it.“  
„And you carried me to the quinjet and saved my life.“  
It felt strange to look back at all of that now, when he lay weak in a hospital bed. The early days, how he'd call them – when he had just been introduced to the Avengers by Fury. Tony had refused to even see him; he had lost Pepper at the time, Fox found out later. He remembered how Steve, Nat and Clint accepted him, and soon, the trainings started. Tony grew to love him, too. Then came the terrigenesis – he became a hero for a short while, and life couldn't be better for Fox. God, it seems like those days are light years away now. DC was in flames and Sokovia fell out of the skies; the accident in Lagos happened, the Accords came, and the rest was history.   
„If I close my eyes now and all of this goes away,“ Fox ran out of breath. His heart raced.   
„Will I ever see you again?“  
Steve was quiet. Fox knew that he couldn't possibly know the answer – none of this was real, it was just a simulation his mind had created to help him deal with the pain easier. This wasn't the real Steve, but at least to hear him say it with that calming voice... It would certainly mean a lot.   
Steve stood up and Fox followed his steps. Everything felt so warm and relaxing. The last of sunrays rested on Steve's face, making his piercing eyes look brighter than lightning and his face to look like it was carved out of marble by God himself. His blonde hair was messily swept on the side above his forhead, but now, it looked softer than silk. He smiled once again. A storm was raging inside Fox's mind the whole time, but once he looked him in the eyes, all the noise disappeared. He found calmness again; he found peace. „One day, kid.“ Steve said.

He opened his eyes to the cold reality. Everything was pale and grey, and the pain had returned. His throat was dry and it felt like it was cut from the inside from the coughing. A tear slid down his temple and into his messy hair. Steve wasn't there anymore – just the cold feeling of emptiness. Losing him for the first time was bad, but losing him once again...  
“Fox.” a silent voice calls. His vision was a bit blurry from the tears, but he could clearly see the outline of three people when he turned to the direction where the voice came from. One of them was sitting in a chair next to his bed; Tony. The other two were standing next to each other, and from what Fox could tell, they were holding hands. When he blinked a few more times, his vision cleared up – it was Daisy and Jemma. All three of them were looking at Fox, their eyes red and swollen, Jemma’s mascara smudged under her eyes. Daisy’s beautiful eyes turned dark. There was no light or sparkle in them – just an abyss. Tony was shaking. He held his palm over his mouth. His skin was pale. “Guys?” Fox’s heart started beating faster. “What’s wrong?”  
Daisy took his hand into hers. She sat on the edge of his bed, the pale light leaning onto her hair and the profile of her face. “It’s…” she began, but stopped. Her lips were shaking and her eyes filled out with tears. Jemma was more professional. There were tears in her eyes and her guts were twisting as she approached Fox’s hospital bed. “The pain you mentioned earlier, Fox.” she began. Tony shut his eyes and two tears slid across the cold surface of his cheeks. “Hydra implanted a device in your spinal cord. Your heart stopped earlier today.” she began to stutter and choke on her tears, but she held it back for now – tonight, when she’s not a doctor or a friend of the guy in the hospital bed, she’ll break down. She’ll cry her heart out. But now, she must maintain some level of professionalism. “When we brought you back, the device was activated. It embraced the nerves in your lower vertebrae, stopping them from functioning altogether. With your nerves severed, Fox…” Jemma stopped, collecting the words in her mind. “You’ll never be able to walk again.” Tony finished. “You’re paralyzed from the waist down.”  
Something inside him broke. His breathing heavy, his heart beating so fast that he was afraid that it’ll break his ribs and jump out of his chest led to a moment where he just broke down.   
“I’m paralyzed?” his voice broke, and that was the drop that broke the dam. All three of them broke down and started crying when they heard him say it.   
“But you guys can – “his voice was weak, cracking at the end – “you can take it out, right?”  
Jemma and Tony shared a look. She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”  
He turned to Tony. Fox didn’t realize how broken he was until he saw the pain in the depth of Tony’s chestnut-colored eyes. “If we try to remove it” the hurt father began, “there is a good chance it will spread through the rest of your spine, severing every other nerve in your spine.”  
His eyes widened with fear. “What are you saying, Tony?”  
“If they try to remove it,” Daisy took over, “there is a good chance that you’ll end up paralyzed from the neck down.”  
_No, no, no_ …Fox shut his eyes. His chest was filling and deflating, desperate for air but he couldn’t inhale any of it. His hands were shaking. _This_ _isn’t happening. This is just another nightmare_.   
He’ll never walk again; never feel the warm sand under his feet, never run again.  He won’t be able to teach his kids to ride the bike, or to play basketball with them. His life just ended.   
Everything inside him was breaking, collapsing, but he couldn’t get himself to move. His breathing got heavier.   
It broke him. It broke Tony Stark’s heart to see his son like that. The chest tubes in his nose were trembling along with the rest of him. The bruises and cuts on his face were healing, but still very visible; they were now soaked up in tears. He wanted to hold his hand, to show him that he was there for him, but how could he? It was his fault that his son will never walk again. It was his fault that he’s never going to live his life the way he used to, because of him. Tony looked at him again. He was afraid to even touch him – he was afraid Fox would break, shatter like a snowflake.  
Fox calmed down. He used one of Nat’s techniques to calm his breathing and lower his heart rate. He won’t let it end this way. He’s not giving up – not this easily.   
“Daisy” he called out.  
 All three immediately looked at him.   
  
“Bring in the terrigen.”


End file.
